Qingyi had not yet recovered from his shock.

The young lady who had been intimate with him just a moment ago was now standing opposite him, watching as Shen Qiyuan bound him and dragged him away.

It wasn’t that she was indifferent—there was even pity in her eyes—but her hands made no move to help. She merely followed with graceful steps as they went downstairs together.

“You… you are the eldest daughter of Grand Preceptor Liu’s manor?” he murmured.

Ruyi thought for a moment: “I used to be.”

Now that Grand Preceptor Liu no longer acknowledged her, naturally, she wasn’t anymore.

“You know martial arts?” He still couldn’t believe it.

He had tested her earlier—she only had greater strength, her meridians were blocked and unclear, and her dantian had no accumulated power. How could she possibly be someone who practiced martial arts?

It was precisely because of this that he had lowered his guard, never expecting…

Ruyi let out a long sigh.

She lowered her eyelashes, with a touch of melancholy: “I’d rather not know martial arts and die under your plum blossom dart, than to personally capture you with my own hands and suffer this heartache.”

Walking ahead, Shen Qiyuan’s fists tightened.

“Hey, sir, be gentler. This is still a child with delicate skin—how pitiful it would be to leave marks and bruises.” She complained in dissatisfaction.

After stuffing the man into the Ministry of Justice’s carriage, Shen Qiyuan turned back and looked at her coldly: “In this world, there isn’t a single man you don’t pity.”

“That’s not true. I’ve always only pitied men with beautiful faces and jade-like appearances.”

“…” He turned his head away in disgust.

Arranging her skirts as she got into the carriage, Ruyi looked at Qingyi: “You didn’t even recognize who I was, so it seems we have no grudge between us. You were just following someone’s orders to kill me, weren’t you?”

Qingyi seemed deflated, biting his teeth without answering her.

Ruyi stroked the calluses on his palm, over and over: “I can’t bear to let you die. Why don’t you tell everything? I’ll beg him to spare your life.”

He stiffened his neck, still refusing to speak.

With a light tsk, Ruyi impatiently let go of his hand.

The warmth disappeared, his hand felt empty, leaving only cold wind. Qingyi pressed his lips tightly together, but his eyes reddened. He felt somewhat angry, yet didn’t want to shout at her. After a long while, he said hoarsely: “You are truly heartless to the extreme.”

Getting close when she wanted to get close, casting aside when she wanted to cast aside, as if everyone was just a toy in her hands.

“You ignored me first, so how can you blame me for being heartless?” Her eyes held coolness. “Do you expect me to coax you? You nearly took my life.”

If they were to settle accounts, they were the ones with a grudge.

Qingyi finally raised his head: “With your skills that day, how could one of my plum blossom darts take your life? But today you approached me, toyed with me in every way, making me… making me…”

He bit his lip, nearly drawing blood.

Ruyi rested her chin on her hand, appreciating his ashamed and angry appearance, her eyes full of interest: “Hmm?”

Qingyi squeezed his eyes shut, struggled for a long time, then said defeatedly: “I was captured today, and there will surely be others coming to assassinate you. Don’t go out alone on the streets anymore.”

When Shen Qiyuan lifted the carriage curtain to enter, this was exactly what he heard.

His eye twitched.

The assassins they had captured before either committed suicide directly or endured the cruelest tortures without saying a single word. But this one was worrying about her safety?

How absurd.

He looked at Liu Ruyi with a darkened face.

Ruyi maintained her languid, fearless appearance. Upon hearing this, she wasn’t moved at all, but instead scoffed: “Since you’ve made up your mind to protect those who plot against me, even if thousands of knives were pointed at my back, why bother with this extra warning? I didn’t die yesterday, but tomorrow I might just fall into some ditch, with my blood flowing right into the prison where you’ll be.”

She painted the scene vividly, and Qingyi’s face paled further.

“That would be good too.” Ruyi clapped her hands. “You hate me anyway, so when your great revenge is achieved, you should celebrate with wine.”

“I don’t.” Qingyi became anxious.

“Oh, you don’t like drinking?” She raised an eyebrow.

His face flushed red. Qingyi had no way to deal with her and said angrily, “I don’t hate you. I was the one who attacked you first. If you want to capture me, I have nothing to say, but—”

He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes: “I’m not trying to protect them. My mother is still in their hands, and I can’t say a single word. Not to mention whether I can testify against them—even if I did, with their power and position, what could you do to them!”

Shen Qiyuan finally spoke: “As long as you’re willing to testify, Xu Houde and his accomplices—not one of them will escape the Zongzheng Prison.”

Qingyi was shocked: “You…”

He wanted to remind him that Xu Houde was the current National Uncle—how could he be easily imprisoned?

But glancing at this man’s face, Qingyi swallowed his words back.

This person didn’t seem to be making empty boasts.

“As for your mother, I will bring her back to your side beforehand.” Shen Qiyuan said, “As long as you dare enter the palace with me to testify.”

Qingyi’s eyes brightened for a moment, but he quickly shook his head: “It’s impossible. Every one of us who works for the black market has family members held by them as hostages. They won’t let you find them easily.”

Ruyi was also somewhat surprised to hear this.

Where did Shen Qiyuan get such confidence to make such conditions? What if they couldn’t find the person or failed to rescue them?

But the man in front of them repeated once more, his tone certain: “I will bring her back to your side beforehand.”

His spine trembling, Qingyi stared blankly at the shackles on his hands.

If he weren’t being blackmailed, he wouldn’t want to kill innocents either. If he weren’t an assassin, if he had a clean reputation, then, then—

He turned his head to look at the young lady beside him.

Ruyi looked careless, but she wasn’t looking at him. She was supporting her chin while gazing at Shen Qiyuan across from them, her gaze sliding from his calm eyes to his lightly pressed lips, smiling faintly, lost in thought.

“Deal?” Shen Qiyuan asked him.

Withdrawing his gaze, Qingyi nodded with difficulty: “Deal.”

The carriage passed through Gongshen Street. Ruyi lifted the curtain to look outside and happened to see the Huixian Wine House repairing its roof, with workers standing outside chatting: “The mason we hired last time was terrible. It’s only been a few days, and the roof we just fixed is leaking again.”

Shen Qiyuan suddenly frowned: “Stop the carriage.”

The driver pulled hard on the reins, and Ruyi, caught unprepared, leaned forward.

Two hands reached out simultaneously to steady her.

Shen Qiyuan looked up indifferently at the person across from him, meeting Qingyi’s gaze.

After a moment of stiffness, Qingyi was the first to withdraw his hand.

“No proper sitting posture—no wonder you’d fall.” He also brushed her away without good humor and got out of the carriage without looking back.

“Sir.” The worker saw him and quickly bowed.

Shen Qiyuan asked: “This wine house had its roof repaired last time—was it three days ago?”

“Yes, four days ago, there was a heavy thunderstorm at night, and the third-floor roof leaked. The next day, the manager sent masons to repair it for a long time, but unexpectedly, after last night’s rain, it’s leaking again.”

The worker pointed upward as he spoke.

Shen Qiyuan followed his gaze upward, his eyes moving slightly.

Ruyi didn’t get out of the carriage, only watched the man from the carriage window, her beautiful eyes smiling, her gaze shimmering.

Qingyi looked at her lovely profile and couldn’t help asking: “Miss, do you have feelings for Lord Shen?”

“Who?” She raised an eyebrow.

Qingyi pointed outside the window.

Ruyi laughed, but was nonchalant: “Everyone likes beautiful things.”

But there was far more than just one beautiful thing in this world.